Wednesday 1st Feb - Hardbody Formula Libre Part Deux Options

[Coopdevil]

Right then, same again on Wednesday! I have sanded all of the paint off my cars and thrown away the interiors, drivers and glass. Should be good for another 10 laps or so in 12 minutes!

We might be having visitors in the form of Ian H and Graham P from Bearwood so I'm off to Waitrose to get the catering sorted - vol-au-vents and Beluga and organic truffles and stuff like that.

As always, the invitation is wide open to anybody who finds himself or herself in the vicinity of J1 M5 on a Wednesday night and has a favourite 1:32 slotcar they wish to give a race agains NSR and CSCRA stuff on a 110' four lane wooden track. Just shout out in the thread and we'll arrange for directions to the place and make sure that somebody will be there early (me probably) to let you in.

Coop

P.S. How long has SF has the Corvette 'Jake' smiley? I noticed it on a Parker post a couple of days ago.

[ralph]

I,ll bring the Bollinger and Earl Grey then, Ayatohlah Bob has promised to give the blessing and call the faithfull
marshalls to their devotions this week.Come back The Reverend Aston says I.( For the enlightenment of the infidels,
a (pestillence upon them) i.e. non -Oaklands members

(a thousand blessings on our name)as to why " Ayatohlah" Bob, think of our local Smethwick minaret and now consider
a long,anguished ullulating cry of trraa...aaaa--CaaaaaKAAAKKK, there, NOW you understand.

[gasowder]

Quote
What ya mean Ralph?

[gasowder]

I,ll bring the Bollinger and Earl Grey

I remember the Earl Grey & associated Ladies of the night

[Ian H]

You guys may need medication I think . . . .

[ralph]

Dunno mate, berwoods shut on a wensday an im noo in smevvik. so got any kit i can borra if can bovva kummin an cuzz im ded keen and thers nuffink on telly.

[ralph]

Ian, calm yourself, the Earl grey was a notorious inner city Brummagem pub and wheras the upstairs was the home of The South Birmingham club, before their eviction to Small Heath and thence by assimilation to Oaklands(may The Prophet smile upon us), the lower floor and main boozer was the Jobcentre for, shall we say, ladies of negotiable virtue.
As for medication, We,ll drink anything You,ll buy us, cheers.

[Ian H]

crackers the lots of you . . . . . i should fit in well . . . . .

Hope to be there on Weds, but just found out that I'm in London on business during the day and I'm not sure when I'll be back in the Midlands yet.

I'll move heaven and earth to get there tho . . . .

[gasowder]

From another SF topic: -

"I have various colour cars and i am convinced that my yellow cars go a bit faster than my red ones.
I would be interested in other members opinions. I think the multicolour cars are the slowest because they have more paint on them."

So this is the real reason Stanley's cars are unpainted, knew he was up to something

[Stan Comley]

So the comments on unfinished cars continue, shame on you Oaklanders.
I reckon a check of rear tyre widths versus latest CSCRA regs would give rise to even more comments, subtle hint. Maybe a check on ground clearances would be good. But then I am all for reducing the numbers of participants in mixed retro racing at Oaklands?!
Sorry Eddie, my cars arent red or yellow, mine are crafty green & dirty white, they appear to be the fastest 'colours', dont understand why. I do think Owens preparations are a bit over the top though & the supposed advantages a tad overstated?
Maybe I will race the unfinished Vanwall this week, if I can find the windscreen & exhaust for it!!!!!!.Omitting those must be worth a lot of laps, or maybe I shouldnt, as I can foresee major indignancies.

Sulking Stan

PS. Ralph, keep your smelly Earl Grey tea bags away from my cup!

[ralph]

Gentlemen, fellow Oaklanders. I hoped to never have to post an item such as this,but far from smiling upon us the Prophet has had the last laugh we,ll ever have in our venerable hut.
We are now homeless.
I have just recieved a telephone call from The Harry Mitchell Centre to tell us that our home since 1968 has been condemned and is not to be used at all. We can meet tomorrow in a small room in the main building but are not to occupy our hut.
I shall speak to the centre manager on thursday ,when he returns from leave, and I,ll perhaps know more then.

[Ian H]

Gentlemen, fellow Oaklanders. I hoped to never have to post an item such as this,but far from smiling upon us the Prophet has had the last laugh we,ll ever have in our venerable hut.
We are now homeless.
I have just recieved a telephone call from The Harry Mitchell Centre to tell us that our home since 1968 has been condemned and is not to be used at all. We can meet tomorrow in a small room in the main building but are not to occupy our hut.
I shall speak to the centre manager on thursday ,when he returns from leave, and I,ll perhaps know more then.

Oh bum!

Keep me in the loop Ralph, re Heart of England F1 Championship and so on.

[ralph]

Ian, Owen will keep you post of any further developments,if any, but at the moment we have a fully equipped club with no means of using it.The HM Centre couldn,t even tell me if the power is on or not,just that we might be out due to unsafe premises.

[Stan Comley]

What would appear to be the last chapter of Oaklands Park, in their current premises has now been written.
Last Wednesday 15 Jan saw a good turnout, but it was in vain, the electrics in the clubroom had been turned off!
Something like this was bound to happen, we all knew the grand old nissen hut had been condemned as dangerous & that Sandwell Leisure would enforce this decision, just a pity they didnt tell us when & what. No mention of this impending action was made in our meeting with the landlords on 10 Feb.
Shame, a lot of sad/annoyed Oaklanders could have been avoided, not to mention a lot of wasted time & fuel.

So, we signed off with our last racing on Wed 8, round 2 of the hard body open class retro. I cant remember all the results, but there was one outstanding performance/record set. Robbie Davies did 90 laps in his 4 x 3min heats, with his CSCRA legal Porsche 906. The car was based on the Ralph Parker designed, sidewinder, Can Am, spring steel chassis, somewhat modified by Robbie, following an intensive instruction course from Ralph (the official secrets act was invoked)!!
Mark Johnstone, still holds the all out retro record, with Robbies ground scraping, breathed on, NSR Mosler, at 95 laps.
It should be noted, that despite stripping paint off bodyshells, removing windscreens & drivers & bringing out the Detroit heavy metal, Owen & Eddie did not hang onto Robbie. Due to threats of physical violence from 'bike chain Ralph', I did not race, Chicken, but those who know Ralph may agree, a wise move!!!
You will be pleased to know that our dangerous nissen hut did not shed rusted sheets of corrugated iron onto any of the racers!
Thanks Oaklands Park, for surviving all these years & allowing old time slot racers, like me, to rejoin the hobby & enjoy a few years of good racing & even more important, a great club atmosphere (maybe something to do with the unusual toilet arrangements!!!!!!!)

Let us hope some good news will follow in the not too distant future.

Stan.

[ralph]

The race results from before the lights finally went out........

1st Robbie 90.05 Cascara 906/Can-Am chassis/ProSlot 37k.
2nd Eddie 81.88 Cascara Camaro/ 37k motor.
3rdRalph 80.56 Cascara Corvette Monoposto/ProSlot37k.
4th Owen 71.92 Various.
5th Osama Bob Leaden 70.34Brass/Lead 2CV.
6TH Mark 66.45 HPI Skyline (this just HAS to be the time of the night -they,re bloody awfull! ,
)
7th Dave 63.05 NSR Audi.
8th Chris Variety of genuine retros .


Stan declined to compete,heckled from a safe distance then made the tea , so was forgiven.
Sandy declined to race against " a lot of (rubber) tired old fogies who should be ashamed of themselves".

was also forgiven as it,s much safer for us that way.
"OAKLANDS~ THE FIRST 55 YEARS."